7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people 1 say;
otherwise, 2 you might even hear 3 your servant cursing you.
7:22 For you know in your own heart 4
that you also have cursed others many times.
1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “so that you do not hear…”; or “lest you hear….”
3 tn The imperfect tense verb תִשְׁמַע (tishma’; from שָׁמַע [shama’, “to hear”]) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility: “you might hear” (see IBHS 508 §31.4e).
4 tn Heb “your heart knows.”
5 tn Grk “and answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation to “He answered.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
6 tn Grk “these.”
7 sn This statement amounts to a rebuke. The idiom of creation speaking means that even creation knows what is taking place, yet the Pharisees miss it. On this idiom, see Gen 4:10 and Hab 2:11.